Survivor Series 2016

Lesnar vs Goldberg 2

Promotional picture for the main event of Survivor Series 2016

This is a reactionary piece and as such will be shorter than the usual standard.

Survivors Series 2016 was heavily billed as “Fantasy Warfare comes to life” with Raw vs Smackdown and of course, Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg II. While for many people the Red and Blue brand’s feuds wasn’t effectively built up, there was comfort in knowing that regardless of whether you wanted to see it or not, the Lesnar vs Goldberg rematch was at least hyped up correctly. Lesnar has been the bully of the WWE roster since his return in 2012 and Goldberg’s rallying of the crowd behind him due to him wanting his family to see him as a superhero one last time adequately set the tone for a strong main event. Personally, I was excited to tune in to what I expected to be a train-wreck of a match. Not many people will praise their first match at Wrestlemania XX and I’ve been tired of Lesnar’s matches for the best part of a year now due to the repetitive style he wrestles. Throw in the fact that Goldberg hadn’t wrestled in 12 years and was (at least allegedly) going into the match with an arm issue and the stars aligned for a botchamania classic. Instead the main event ran for less than 90 seconds with Goldberg “popping” the bully and pining Lesnar clean as a whistle. The length of the match and the decisiveness of it is where fan opinion has split since the bell rung.

The majority seem to be furious about this match due to them either being denied the lengthy match they had hoped for or simply that Goldberg defeated the man who beat the Undertaker’s Wrestlemania undefeated streak. The case could be made that Lesnar had no business defeating Undertaker’s streak at Wrestlemania as it didn’t really establish anyone as a new star but instead just reaffirm that Brock Lesnar was Brock Lesnar. The hope was that at least whoever defeated Brock next would get the rub and become the new top babyface-not a 49 year old Goldberg. Having faith in WWE long term booking these days is usually a surefire way for a fan to set themself up for disappointment (see The Nexus, The Authority, Anonymous GM, Sandow’s Money in the Bank loss, Stardust or Rusev/Lana/Ziggler to name but a few) and Brock beating the streak always felt like it was just going to be added to this already long list of disappointing angles.

Of course it would have been amazing for somebody well liked to defeat Brock and get that rub but it is what it is, people can fantasy book all they like but ultimately never have control-that said I wholeheartedly empathise with the feeling that the streak breaking had been wasted. However it’s always looked like that rub was destined to be wasted as soon as Brock was victorious at Wrestlemania 30.

The other, less popular, opinion in regards to Lesnar vs Goldberg II is that it was fantastic. For old WCW fans it was a rare moment of a former company man being treated with respect in WWE. Sure, in recent years Sting has received good publicity from WWE but going 0-2 on PPV is hardly something worthy of “The Icon”. Goldberg has surprisingly been a boost to ratings-most noticeably on his first Raw back and the Raw after Survivor Series. Arguably he is also Monday night Raw’s top babyface right now and

it’s all down to him just being allowed to speak from the heart and be Goldberg, not a character WWE Creative came up with for him. It’s a sad statement that the less tv time he gets the longer he’ll stay over with the crowd but the creative team on Monday nights seems to struggle to write consistently (with few exceptions).

Goldberg shocking the world and delivering a spear to Lesnar

Brock and Paul Heyman celebrating conquering the Undertaker's Wrestlemania undefeated streak.

A triumphant Goldberg celebrates defeating Lesnar in under 90 seconds

Ultimately the main event did exactly what the company had hoped, it generated plenty of buzz both internally with the fanbase and externally with other media outlets (for example I saw it being covered on Sky Sports News and The Sun in the UK). Goldberg has been reestablished as the unstoppable force and shown to be a draw-at least with viewership. The burning question now is can they sustain all the good work they’ve done with him through until Wrestlemania while keeping interest in Lesnar vs Goldberg III. Understandably there are those who have zero interest in seeing that match but what we were given at Survivor Series 2016 was designed to leave us hungry for more. Sure, Lesnar should have been used to establish a new star but he’s still got time to do that.

Brock didn’t need to be the one to break the streak, he’s already the single most threatening man on the roster. Anyone who pins him clean instantly becomes a top guy in the eyes of people and if you need any proof of that you only need to hear one word.

Goldberg.